The humanitarian demining unit of the Russian peacekeeping contingent continues to carry out tasks for humanitarian demining of the terrain and objects on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

Currently, Russian servicemen are carrying out work to search for explosive objects and unexploded ordnance in the vicinity of the settlement of Machkalashen in the Martuni district, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The work in the settlement, in which the houses of local residents are located on the slopes of a mountainous area, is carried out using IMP-S2 mine detectors and non-contact portable Korshun seekers.

The servicemen first of all check the road connecting the two parts of the village, house plots and other territory.

"Upon arrival in the next settlement of the Martuni district, we started cleaning the area from explosive objects. During communication with local residents, it was found out that there are unexploded ordnance in this territory. Today, more than 1,500 hectares of the territory have been checked. The work will continue for a week," said Yevgeny Kholodov, a soldier of the humanitarian demining group.

The detected ammunition and explosive objects are taken to a specially equipped Ballydzha landfill for subsequent destruction.

Since November 23, 2020, 2173.5 hectares of territory, more than 650 kilometers of roads, 1,892 buildings, including 30 socially significant objects, have been cleared of unexploded ordnance by the military personnel of the humanitarian demining unit, 25,640 explosive objects have been found and neutralized. More than 80 percent of the scheduled plan for the clearance of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh was carried out by the servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.